Celebration
of 100 Years in Canada
By Bohdan Kolos
From various parts
of Canada and the United States, they came to meet family members they never
knew existed.
In
July, the St. Volodymyr Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ont. saw 175 members of
the Martyniuk Family reunite for the 100th anniversary of their
first ancestor arriving on North American soil.
This was the elder brother of eleven siblings who immigrated to Canada
from the village of Sorots’ke in the Ternopil region of Ukraine.
The
event celebration buzzed with the comparing of notes and studying old photos
and mementoes. Family members created
displays, shared photos and laid out their personal histories.
During
the official greetings, the Masters of Ceremony Daria Kowalyk and Oksana
Martyniuk greeted the celebrants and described some of the obstacles that they
overcame to get everyone together.
“It
really was a cooperative effort of the organizing committee members that made
it happen,” said Daria Kowalyk. “And
without the organizational skills of Uliana Yaworsky it wouldn’t have come
together,” she added.
The
Ontario-based organizing committee included: Olly Doran, Daria Kowalyk, Vera
Litynsky, and Lu Taskey from Toronto; Tania Martyniuk and Cathy Volpe from
Hamilton; Uliana Yaworsky from Mississauga;
Oksana Martyniuk from Grimsby; and Natalie Chapman from Oakville.
The
Family Tree, (which prints out to eight feet in height in 12pt Arial), was
traced back to Ivan Martyniuk (born 1860) and Anna Chuderska (born 1864). It was their children, five of whom made
their way to Canada and eventually to the United States. The ancestry can be traced back seven
generations to the first immigrant, but the family detectives have documented
family members back to the early 1800s.
Through genealogical research and just the plain use of the Internet
and phone calls, it was possible to track down the seven generations.
Everybody
had stories to share about their family branch. It was revealed that Ivan
Martyniuk’s father, Hnat, was a head chef for a Polish Count before the turn of
the previous century.
It
was brother Joseph Martyniuk who first came to Canada alone in 1911. He worked on the railroad and over time,
helped others make their way to North America for the opportunities that were
available.
Brother
Leon Martyniuk came to Canada a year later in 1912 and also worked for the
railroad which saw his family move from town to town. He had three children and
helped others as much as he could.
Brother
Franz Martyniuk was a celebrated church choir master in both Windsor and
Grimsby, Ontario, and lived to be almost 104.
Brother
Hnat Martyniuk was a member of the Ukrainian army - Sichovi Stril’tsi,
and later worked as a chef in the residence of Metropolitan Andrey
Sheptytsky. He arrived in Canada after
the end of World War II.
Sister
Julia Kazia Yaworska (nee Martyniuk) was educated as a teacher in Lviv, Western
Ukraine, and used those skills when she arrived in Canada in 1927. In Windsor, Ontario, Julia became very active
in the organized Ukrainian community.
She was a teacher at the Ukrainian National Federation Hall and then was
President for ten years of the Ukrainian Women’s Organization. She worked in
the UNF for most of her active life.
Today, 310 members of the original Ivan/Anna
Martyniuk Family can be found throughout North America - in the United States
in Michigan, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Georgia, Colorado, Texas, Utah, and
California. In Canada, members reside
throughout Ontario and as far west as Alberta.
PHOTOS
1 - Three
brothers who came to Canada to start new lives (L. to R.): Joseph, Franz, and
Hnat Martyniuk
2 - (L.
to R.): Julia (Kazia) Yaworska, Joseph and Helen Martyniuk in the early 1950s